Have you ever been in a spiritual desert? A period of emotional and spiritual dryness, where God seems very far away?
It is not uncommon to experience seasons like that throughout life. But how should we react to them? I think there are some valuable lessons to be learned on the subject by examining the opening lines of Psalm 63.
When David wrote Psalm 63, he was wandering in the wilderness of Judah; whether he was on the run from King Saul or his son Absalom is unclear. The wilderness of Judah is a harsh, rocky, desperately dry place to be. Not a place anyone would enjoy living in for any period of time.
David doesn’t write how we might expect someone on the run in a desert to write, though; he’s not angry or bitter or complaining. Instead, he says:
“God, You are my God; I shall be watching for You; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and exhausted land where there is no water. So have I seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and glory. Because Your favor is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with fat and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips” (v.1-5).
David opens with an affirmation of his faith in God. The Hebrew word that is translated as “I shall be watching for You” is transliterated to “shacar” and is related to the word for dawn; it means to seek early or earnestly, to look for diligently. David is saying not just that he will look for God, but that he will look for him early in the morning, urgently, not casually or half-heartedly. When we are in a spiritual desert, we should also be seeking God urgently.
In the second verse it says “So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see your power and Your glory.” This isn’t just looking for God’s physical presence now, but thinking about when we’ve seen God’s power and glory in the past. When we are in a spiritual desert, we should also recall to mind the times God has moved for us in the past.
Verses 3-5 say “Because Your favor is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with fat and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” The word that is translated here as “favor” is actually hesed, which is a steadfast, enduring, sacrificial love. David is saying that having God’s love is better than having life itself.
David talks about blessing and praising God, and despite being in the wilderness, says that he is satisfied, having been given not just the minimum necessary to survive, but having been given an abundance. He’s able to say this because he has God’s love, and in anticipation of what God will do for him. When in a spiritual desert, we should also be praising God, for the same reasons.
Praising God, remembering what He has done for us in the past, and seeking God urgently are not the limits of what we should be doing when in a spiritual desert, though. Other things to consider doing are:
Embrace the silence. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t speak to God; we should, but we should devote ourselves to trying to hear God’s voice, to listening instead of speaking.
Seek support. Isolation can be damaging; lean on your friends, family, mentors, faith community.
Keep godly routines. Pray and read Scripture, but also consider things like journaling and nature walks. If your routine feels stale, try something new.
I have wandered in a spiritual desert before, and found these things to be helpful in finding my way back out of it. The important thing is to keep seeking God and not give up; as Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” It doesn’t say that these things will happen right away, but they will happen, as long as you keep asking, seeking, and knocking.
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